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Regional disparities, absorption capacity and Structural Fund payments: A case study of the Czech Republic

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  • Novosák Jiří
  • Novosáková Jana
  • Hájek Oldřich

    (Department of Regional Development, Public Sector Administration and Law, Faculty of Management and Economics, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic)

  • Horváth Peter

    (Department of Public Policy and Public Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of St. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia)

Abstract

The intention of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on how the factors of socio-economic disadvantage and absorption capacity influence the spatial distribution of Structural Fund (SF) payments among the Czech Republic’s micro-regions during the 2007–2013 programming period. The empirical results indicate that agglomeration economies, innovation and entrepreneurship are associated with higher SF absorption capacity and higher SF payments, challenging the tendency for socio-economically disadvantaged regions to converge. SF absorption capacity measured especially by the number of project applications submitted for SF financing and by the average SF budget per project application, is a crucial concept in order to understand the relationship between within-country regional disparities and SF interventions.

Suggested Citation

  • Novosák Jiří & Novosáková Jana & Hájek Oldřich & Horváth Peter, 2017. "Regional disparities, absorption capacity and Structural Fund payments: A case study of the Czech Republic," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 36(4), pages 81-92, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:vrs:quageo:v:36:y:2017:i:4:p:81-92:n:6
    DOI: 10.1515/quageo-2017-0037
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